I can fix that
by ammstar11
Summary: Nico discovers that Will is very good at fixing problems, no matter what they might be. Based off of my favorite part in Holes.
1. Chapter 1 I can't row a boat

**I can fix that**

 **Nico discovers that Will is very good at fixing problems, no matter what they might be.**

 **Based off of my favorite part in Holes.**

 **Chapter 1 I can't row a boat**

Nico was still adjusting to life at Camp Half-Blood; sure he had stayed here before but back then people had been uncomfortable with his presence once they had found out that he was the son of Hades. Now no one seemed to care. He was welcomed to join other cabins for daily activities, people fought over whose team he would be on for capture the flag, and he actually had friends to pass the time with.

It was so new to him to have people wanting him around that he didn't know how to turn them down even if he really would rather not join in, but all of the attention and activity was starting to wear him down.

Nico sat down in the grass beside his cabin, the shade feeling fantastic after a long morning of sword practice. He let out a sigh as he leaned back against the obsidian wall of cabin 13, he was so worn out he didn't know if he could take any more of this today. He closed his eyes and placed his arm over his face just wanting to block out the world and rest a moment before someone else found him and insisted that he join them for the afternoon.

Nico didn't notice the figure that walked over and sat down beside him until they leaned back against the wall next to him and spoke up.

"Hey Death boy, how's it going?"

Nico lowered his arm and looked beside him to see Will sitting next to him in the grass giving him a smile. There was a brief fluttering of those skeletal butterflies in the pit of his stomach when he saw that smile and looked down.

"Hey Will, just trying to get away from everyone for a while. People keep asking me to do stuff with them and I don't want to upset them by saying no." He missed the look of concern that passed across Will's face at his words.

Before Will could respond though another camper came over.

"Oh hey Will," they said when they saw him sitting there then turned to talk to Nico, "hey Nico the Hermes cabin was wondering if you'd like to join us for a race across the canoe lake."

Nico was about to agree even though he'd rather not, but before he could say anything Will cut in.

"Sorry, I already asked Nico to help me out in the infirmary this afternoon," he stood up and held his hand out to Nico to help him to his feet. "Come on Nico, we should really get to work."

Nico was a little confused but took Will's hand and let him pull him to his feet.

"Uh yeah, sorry maybe some other time." he said to the Hermes camper, they said it was no problem and waved as they turned to head back to their cabin mates.

"What was that about?" Nico asked Will and then he realised that he was still holding Will's hand he quickly let go and put his hands in his pockets.

Will gave him a sheepish smile as he scratched the back of his head.

"Well I uh, thought that since you didn't want to do any more activities you'd want a way of it, so I figured I'd get you out of it by getting you to help out in the infirmary?" he didn't sound very certain, maybe he was worried that Nico might be mad at him for just deciding it on his own after Nico had said that he just wanted to be left alone but Nico didn't mind.

"That's fine, I don't mind. At least it's better than racing across the canoe lake; I don't even know how to use a canoe…" he felt kind of embarrassed to admit that but Will didn't seem affected by that, he just looked away.

"Well I can fix that, if you want I mean, I could teach you sometime if you'd like."

 _If I'd like?_

He'd love it! Though he wasn't really up to admitting that much, so he decided to play it down a bit.

"Um sure, that sounds good."

Will turned back to him again with his usual smile back in place,

 _Just like it should be_ Nico thought but then wanted to kick himself for thinking that.

"So shall we head over to the infirmary then?" Will asked and Nico just nodded because he didn't really trust himself to speak at the moment and together they walked over towards the Big house where the infirmary was.

…

It really wasn't that bad spending time with Will, especially now that he wasn't getting on Nico's case about over exerting himself to the point of fading and all that.

They had sat in a comfortable silence for a while in the infirmary; it was only broken now and then by Will giving instructions or Nico asking for directions. After a while though Nico decided to ask about Will's earlier offer.

"So you wouldn't mind teaching me how to use a canoe?"

Will looked up from the bandages he was placing neatly into a first aid kit.

"Not at all, I've been canoeing a bunch of times and would be happy to teach you. Is there any time you'd prefer?"

Nico hoped he wasn't blushing as he responded.

"I guess since not a lot of people go to the lake in the morning, sometime after breakfast might work." he'd hate to make a fool of himself in front of the other campers and he didn't want his friends to see the two of them alone together on the lake just in case they got the wrong idea.

Will nodded in understanding.

"Sounds good, that way we don't have to worry about there being other canoes around as we practice."

Nico was glad Will had agreed to that and understood.

"So how about we go tomorrow morning, but we have to wait a bit first, you shouldn't do water activities too soon after eating."

And there was the Doctor Solace Nico knew so well.

"Sure, that's fine."

And with that they got back to work.

…

The next morning Nico woke up and got dressed then headed out for breakfast.

He got his food and offered up some of it to the gods then sat down at his table. As he sat there eating and thinking about the morning he had planned with Will at the canoe lake Jason came by and sat down beside him.

"Hey Nico, would you be up to sword training again this morning?"

Nico didn't mind spending time with his blond friend but today he had already planned on spending time with a different blond.

"Sorry Jason I already have plans. Maybe later, or another day."

Jason didn't seem too bothered by being turned down though, much to Nico's relief.

"No problem, I'm glad you're taking part in camp activities. I told you things would be better, didn't I?"

Well he did have a point; Jason had been one of the ones to encourage Nico the most to start enjoying himself more and feel at home.

"Yeah, things are going okay." Nico agreed and then he finished his breakfast. "I've got to go, I'll talk to you later."

Jason waved to him as he went.

"Later."

…

Nico headed over towards the lake, Will had decided that while they waited to actually get out onto the water he would first explain how to put on the life jacket and how to row the canoe, he had said that it was okay to sit in the canoe on dry land first to get used to it while they practiced rowing, then they could go onto the lake. Nico was fine with that, he'd been in boats before but nothing as small and close to the water as a canoe and though he wasn't ready to admit it, he was kind of nervous about it.

"Hey Nico!"

His stomach filled with that annoying fluttering feeling again as he turned to see Will heading his way.

Nico had been sitting in the grass while he waited and wasn't sure if he should stand or not as Will got closer but when Will sat down next to him he put all of his focus on looking at the lake in front of them.

"Hey Will, so it's really okay that you don't join the rest of your cabin in morning activities?"

Since Will was the head councillor for the Apollo cabin it was technically his job to lead his cabin in their activities, Nico on the other hand being the only member of his cabin unless of course Hazel was visiting, didn't have to worry about things like that.

Will shook his head though.

"It's okay, they went to archery practice and I'm not so great at it so Kayla leads it. It's easier to get the ones that excel in the particular activity to lead it instead; I'm just in charge of them the rest of the time."

Well that made sense, though Nico knew that Will was a good fighter he just preferred to do it defensively, and being good at something and being good at teaching something wasn't always the same thing.

"Alright shall we get started then?" Will asked bringing Nico back to the present, he couldn't help the small smile tugging at his lips.

"Sure."

And that was how they ended up spending most of the day practicing rowing a canoe, by the time the conch sounded for lunch they had spent a good hour getting Nico used to actually moving the small boat through the water, though they did get splashed a few times they just ended up laughing about it. By the end of that day Nico almost had the hang of it and he was no longer worried about falling into the water.

"Thanks Will, I guess I don't need to feel embarrassed the next time someone wants me to join them canoeing." Nico said though he really wanted to spend more time with the healer, it was approaching dinner time and they both needed to head back to their cabins to change out of their sopping wet clothes from the one time that they actually did tip over, though Nico wondered if that had been his fault or the work of a nereid playing a practical joke on them.

"No problem, if you ever need something I'd be more than happy to help." Will said and with that they headed back to their cabins to change.

 **Please review and let me know what you think.**


	2. Chapter 2 I fell and hurt myself

**Chapter 2** **I fell and hurt myself**

Nico still wasn't too good at turning people down when they invited him along to join them so today he had been roped into a race up the Lava wall with Percy and Jason, though why they had to include him in a stupid race he had no idea.

At least he wasn't afraid of the Lava, after free falling into the mouth of an active volcano while shadow traveling halfway across the globe with Reyna and Coach Hedge and a forty foot statue tied to him, the climbing wall wasn't very intimidating. Of course the same couldn't be said for the _Friendly rivalry_ between Percy and Jason, who ever thought it would be a great idea for the three sons of the big three to compete against each other really hadn't thought things all the way through.

It hadn't been so bad at first, but as they were almost to the top Nico slipped and ended up burning his forearm and losing his grip and fell but luckily Jason had caught him before he met the ground.

The race now forgotten, Percy and Jason both looked him over to be sure that he was alright.

"Nico oh gods are you okay?!" Percy asked as he looked at the younger demigod now seated on the ground holding his arm with the burn.

"I'm fine, just got a bit singed. No big deal." he winced though as his arm shifted as he stood up.

"You should probably go to the infirmary and get that checked."

In the meantime Percy managed to summon some water from the ground and held it over the burn of Nico's arm to help sooth it as best he could.

Nico ignored the little fluttering feeling in the pit of his stomach at the mention of the infirmary.

"I'm fine."

But when he went to move his arm in an attempt to play it off as nothing he ended up sucking in his breath at the pain that shot up his arm from the burn, meanwhile Percy and Jason both gave him looks like _Don't lie, we can see right through you._

Nico wanted to fight it some more but knew it was pointless, especially when Jason spoke up next.

"Go to the infirmary or I'll tell Will and watch as he drags you there himself."

Okay that was a good threat and Nico hated just how effective it was.

"Alright fine I'll go, are you happy now?" he asked to two older boys.

"Yeah."

"Yes." They both answered in turn.

Nico heaved a sigh knowing he had no other choice but to comply and headed over to the infirmary where, no doubt Will would be. He was already bracing himself for some kind of lecture about paying more attention while using dangerous equipment, or don't agree to stupid competitions you knew couldn't end well, or a great many things really. There was just no telling when it came to Will.

Nico could feel the ghost of a smile playing at the edge of his lips at the thought of the healer and his over protective ways. He sent a silent prayer to the gods that no one knew what was running through his head right now.

When Nico walked into the infirmary he noticed the lack of activity, that was probably a good thing but it also meant that it was just him and the blond boy sitting in front of him and he had to fight back the blush rising to his face.

"Uh, hey Will." he said to announce his presence in the room, Will turned around to greet him with a smile on his face like usual but that smile fell when he saw Nico holding his arm to his chest protectively.

"What happened?" he asked as he stood and walked over to Nico to inspect the damage.

"I uh, kind of slipped while climbing the lava wall and ended up getting burned. It's no big deal though." he would have said more but the words died in his throat at the look Will was giving him.

"No big deal? Nico this is a serious burn, I need to treat it right away. Here sit down while I get some ointment for it."

Nico sat on the nearest bed as he was instructed and waited while Will went around gathering things to treat the burn.

Will came back with a bottle of cold water and a towel some burn ointment along with some bandages and a square of ambrosia.

"Here, I can fix that." he said as he set the ointment and bandages aside as he applied the cold water to the area of the burn with the towel folded underneath to catch the water then he patted down the area around the burn with the edge of the towel, next he picked up the ointment and spread some on the burn itself and finished by wrapping it with the bandage and singing a healing hymn to help alleviate the pain and sting of the burn before handing Nico the ambrosia and waited for him to eat it.

"There that should do it, now what were you saying?" Will asked as he looked up at Nico from where he knelt in front of him, Nico wanted to look away but held Wills blue gaze anyway.

"It's not that big of a deal, I've had worse."

Wills eyes narrowed a bit at that.

"You still need to be careful on the climbing wall Nico, that's real lava after all."

Before he could stop the words they were already out.

"So was the stuff in the volcano I almost fell into during one of my shadow jumps back from Greece but I'm fine."

Will made a strange strangled sound at that.

"The _what_?!"

Nico felt the need to assure Will that everything was fine.

"It's okay Solace, we managed to make another jump before we reached the lava, don't worry about it."

Will still looked aghast.

"Don't worry about it?! You just told me you fell into a volcano!"

Nico shrugged.

"Yeah but I also told you that we made it out of there just fine."

Will still looked like he wanted to check Nico for any damage left over from the plunge into an active volcano despite it having happened weeks ago, but he seemed to fight the urge back.

"I think you and I need to have a talk about what counts as ' _No big deal'_ di Angelo." he said and sighed as he stood up and went about putting the supplies away.

Nico could feel his face heat up a bit.

 _He wants to talk to me_.

Lecture or not Nico couldn't help looking forward to it.

"Whatever you say Solace."

 **So what do you think?**


	3. Chapter 3 I don't want to be alone

**Chapter 3 I don't want to be alone**

Summer was winding down to a close and many campers where preparing to head home after the summer or accept the offer to head over to New Rome and see what life was like for demigods outside of camp with no threat of attack from monsters while leading a normal life.

Nico was happy that the two camps had a chance to interact and that the Greek demigods were welcome to head over to New Rome if they wished. Percy and Annabeth had plans of doing just that once they had finished with school.

Piper and Jason were also leaving at the end of summer and since Mellie and Coach Hedge worked for Pipers dad, they and little Chuck would be leaving too; Nico was going to miss the lively little family.

Things were going to be a lot quieter around camp, there usually weren't that many year-rounders so Nico debated spending his time going back and forth between the two camps visiting Hazel and Reyna and Frank over at Camp Jupiter. He supposed he could also see if his father needed help with any remaining ghosts still needing to be rounded up and sent back to the Underworld.

Nico sat on the front steps of cabin 13 and watched the other campers milling around and cleaning the cabins for the end of the summer and he thought back to when he had joined the others when they had celebrated Percy's birthday together and everyone was talking about going to school. He was happy to be included but he felt like maybe he was intruding as he sat with them, even if he was together with them he still felt apart from them, separate.

"What are you so focused on sitting there di Angelo?"

Nico snapped out of his thoughts and looked up to see Will standing next to the steps he was sitting on.

"Oh hey Solace, I was thinking of the end of summer. Everyone seems to be really excited about returning home or going to New Rome." he saw Will watching him waiting patiently for him to tell him what else was on his mind and let out a small sigh.

"The others were talking about their plans for after summer and I'm not really sure where that leaves me." Nico leaned back on his arms. "I don't want to be left alone again…" he didn't know why he said that out loud but he couldn't seem to help it.

"Well I can fix that." Will's voice held a trace of the smile that Nico knew must be on the other boy's face.

Nico looked at Will to see him pulling a piece of paper out of his pocket and he passed it over to him. Nico read the form and felt his heart thump in his chest; it stated that Will was staying as a year-rounder at Camp Half-Blood.

"Looks like you don't have to be alone after all Deathboy."

Nico wasn't sure how to respond to that so all he said was,

"Don't call me that." but there wasn't much feeling behind his words. His hands were starting to shake so he passed the paper back to Will before he noticed. "I guess things would get kind of boring if you weren't here to constantly bug me."

Will pretended to be hurt by that.

"Aw come on it's not constant."

But soon they were both laughing together thinking about all of the times Will's Doctor's orders had been issued over the past month. It felt good to just sit there and laugh together about small things like that; neither of them paid any attention to the few campers that stopped to look at them.

"You know, everyone is busy getting everything in order right now so if you want we could head over to the lake and take a canoe out for a while." Will suggested once they had finished laughing and Nico took a moment to consider it even though he was more than happy to accept.

"Well my cabin is clean and I don't really have anything else to do right now, sure let's go."

…

Nico and Will had spent much of the afternoon hanging out, after they had gone canoeing they went and sat by the strawberry fields and talked about anything that came to mind, Will told Nico the different things that they could do after the summer.

"You should see the trees in the fall, the leaves all change color and it looks so amazing. There are different activities too, since it gets too cold to go swimming but it makes the campfire and s'mores more enjoyable."

Nico smiled as he listened.

"Sounds great."

He thought back to the first time he had come to Camp Half-Blood and how excited he had been about all of the new and fun things to do here, he was a little surprised that a small part of him was beginning to feel like that again and he was looking forward to the things that Will was telling him about.

"I'm looking forward to it."

Will smiled at him.

"Me too."

…

Nico had said goodbye to his friends earlier that afternoon when they were leaving, it would be good for them to return to their lives and see their families again after everything that happened, he would miss them sure, but they had promised to stay in touch and send IM's now and then to check in.

Annabeth had assured him that staying at camp year round was fun and that he was going to have a wonderful time.

"I know, thanks."

His relationship with everyone had grown so much since the end of the war and he knew he had made the right choice to stay and open up more.

By the time Nico went to bed that night he wasn't feeling as alone as he had that morning. He knew that he'd still have friends here and he could still make more, of course he'd still planned on going to visit Hazel and Reyna when he got the chance but he was glad that he wouldn't have to worry about feeling lonely here after he decided to stay. He had the feeling that Will would see to it that never felt alone again.

That night Nico fell asleep with a smile on his face.

 **A little shorter but what did you think?**


	4. Chapter 4 I can't sleep

**Chapter 4 I can't sleep**

Nico had spent another night tossing and turning and waking up constantly. After another restless sleep he was reluctant to crawl out of bed that morning but he knew that if he didn't get up on his own then someone would come knocking at his door to ask if he wanted to hang out with them.

It was already late fall and there weren't many new campers but those that had stayed hadn't grown tired of his presence yet. He still feared that his welcome would end and he'd have to leave again, but he knew that this time no one would try to chase him away due to fear.

He found himself spending more and more time with Will. Whenever socializing with the other campers became too much for him he would tell people that Will had asked him to help out in the infirmary and then he'd make his way over there for some peace and quiet and only the company of the one person whom he had grown used to talking freely to.

He had even surprised himself with how easily he was beginning to open up to the son of Apollo. He had grown closer to Jason ever since he had been present when Nico had faced off with Eros and had to tell his deepest secret, and through Jason he had gotten to know Piper. He had grown closer to Frank through his sister Hazel because he knew it would mean a lot to her, and he and Frank both had played Mytho Magic so they had had something in common there.

He had gotten to know Reyna and Coach Hedge on their journey back and they had experienced his most inner thoughts and feelings and had decided to stick with him anyway which he appreciated, and since telling Percy about his previous feelings for him they had been able to become friends for real this time along with Annabeth of course. But now they had all left to continue on with their lives outside of Camp Half-Blood.

He could see why he was able to talk with them, but why did he always feel so comfortable talking to Will? Sure Will had that type of personality that just seemed to calm everyone and you couldn't help but like him but Nico felt like there was something more to it than that.

For now he pushed those thoughts from his mind as he got ready for the day. He was still tired but he could manage to get through the day, he always did.

...

Nico arrived at breakfast and tried to hide just how tired he really was but of course the ever watchful eyes of the head healer managed to notice anyway.

"Hey Nico, have you been getting enough sleep lately? You look exhausted." Will leaned in a little closer to inspect Nico's face to see what all signs there that indicated that he was losing sleep.

As Will looked at the dark circles under his eyes that Nico had really hoped wouldn't show too much he had to fight off a blush that was starting to creep onto his face.

"Just had some trouble staying asleep last night, it's no big deal." he said as he turned away from Will to try and focus on his food instead of the boy sitting next to him.

Nico was now an honorary member of the Apollo table ever since his little _mood disorder_ surfaced not that long ago causing the dead to rise in the middle of the dinning pavilion. Will had signed a doctor's note stating that Nico should not be left alone and therefore volunteered to have Nico sit with him at the Apollo table. It was something that Nico was grateful for most days, but right now he kind of wished that he wasn't so close to Will so he could hide just how much sleep he had been missing lately.

"You know, if you ever need to, you're more than welcome to stop by the infirmary and try to catch up on whatever sleep you may have missed, I can always write you a note."

Nico was still facing away from Will so he missed the slight smile as he said that.

"Sure." Nico said as he picked at his food.

…

Nico had gone to the arena to practice with his sword but after a few rounds he was starting to feel the effects of his exhaustion making itself known and he started to stagger until he stumbled and nearly cut himself with his own sword.

The older camper from the Ares cabin that he had been sparring with caught him by the arm and kept him on his feet but Nico's vision was stating to swim and he knew that the only reason he was still on his feet was because someone was half carrying him.

"I think you're done for today, you should really go to the infirmary." The Ares camper said as he helped support Nico's weight.

Nico knew that he was right so he resigned himself to his fate and nodded before letting the bigger camper haul him to the infirmary where no doubt Will would give him some kind of _I told you so_ look. Maybe he wouldn't bother with a lecture this time. Well he could always hope right?

It didn't take long to get to the infirmary but even so Nico was having trouble even standing so the Ares camper just ended up carrying him on his back. He placed Nico down in the first bed that he came to and told Will what had happened before leaving. Will came over to the bed that Nico was laying in, his eyes falling closed as he clearly fought to stay awake.

…

Will looked down at Nico, but not with exasperation like Nico had thought. He looked at him with clear concern in his eyes as he looked over the dark circles under the other boy's eyes and thought back to what the son of Ares had told him about Nico nearly passing out during sword practice. Then he thought back to this morning when Nico had tried to hide how tired he was. Despite what he had said Will could tell that there was more to it than not getting enough sleep last night.

He placed a hand over Nico's forehead to try and get a reading on what was wrong.

"Nico, please tell me the truth, how much sleep have you had lately? You are completely exhausted right now."

Nico let out a sigh as he brushed Will's hand aside.

"Not much… I don't really know actually, I just couldn't sleep."

Will tried to meet his eyes.

"How come?" he noticed that Nico didn't seem happy to talk about it but he was glad he was talking anyway.

"I've been having some really bad nightmares lately." Nico said as he let his eyes fall closed. "I keep waking up way to early."

Will hated the thought of Nico being too afraid to fall back asleep; gods knew what horrors haunted his dreams and memories. Will picked up Nico's hand and held it gently between his as he sat down next to Nico's bed, a thought occurring to him and he smiled.

"I can fix that." he said as he grasped Nico's hand just a little tighter and began to sing a hymn in the form of a lullaby to help him fall asleep and to chase away the darkness that clung to him because of the nightmares. He put all he had into the hymn so that Nico could rest easier.

By the time he was done Will felt just a little worn out himself and had to lean back in his chair for a bit.

…

Nico woke up feeling better than ever, it had been so long since he had felt so rested and he hadn't felt anything close to fear or panic lurking at the back of his mind upon waking.

He sat up to rub the sleep out of his eyes but then he realized that something held his hand in place, he blinked his eyes a few times to focus them before he was able to open them enough to see Will still dozing and leaning on the edge of the bed, still slumped over in the chair he had pulled up to Nico's bed.

Nico didn't even bother to hide his smile, instead he decided to just lay back down and see if he could get a bit more sleep because there was no way he wanted to let go of the warm hand that still held his.

 **Please let me know what you think.**

 **(P.S. I think there's only going to be one more chapter for this one.)**


	5. Chapter 5 I'm scared of my feelings

**Chapter 5 I'm scared of my feelings**

Well it was now the middle of November and Nico was still at Camp Half-Blood. No one hated his presence; he was always included in many activities with other cabins due to the fact that he was alone in his. He ate at the Apollo table even after the rules stating that you must remain at your own table (Nico being the exception to this thanks to his doctor's note.) had been lifted and campers could sit wherever they chose to.

He also kept up his routine of volunteering in the infirmary whenever possible. Though his reasoning behind it had had long since changed; he no longer went there to seek refuge from the overwhelming day to day interactions with other campers because he had grown used to it by now.

His new reason behind his constant presence there had to do with none other than the head of the infirmary and Apollo Cabin himself, Will Solace.

Though he still couldn't fully admit it to himself, deep down he knew that Will was the reason he spent so much of his time there. And he sure as Hades wasn't ready to admit it to anyone else even if it was as clear as day to pretty much everyone around the two of them just how close they were.

Nico was still worried about unrequited love and where his feelings might take him.

With Percy it had just been a crush brought on by childhood fascination and idolization and he had since moved past that. But it was different with Will, he knew it was different because the more time they spent together the more his feelings grew.

He felt different with Will than with anyone else, it was comfortable but not the same as when he was with Hazel or Reyna, he felt he could really open up and be himself around him and be accepted, more so than when he was with Jason, and he felt like there was something between them like a spark.

He enjoyed how much time they spent together but he still didn't really know how Will felt and that was what scared him the most. That Will wouldn't think of him in that way and despite claiming to enjoy his company and friendly face, he still scoffed at that, he wasn't sure what Will felt for him.

He had said that he had wanted to be Nico's friend and it really didn't take much for Nico to believe him, but would he want to be more than just friends, was that a possibility? Nico hated the uncertainty that filled him where Will was concerned. He obviously cared about him but was it the same? Would it ever be?

The weather outside had been getting colder and some activities had slowed down thanks to it, so Nico tended to spend more time in his cabin like he was doing now. Unfortunately that left him alone with his thoughts and look at where that had gotten him. He lay there on his bed with one arm flung over his eyes as he groaned trying to block out those thoughts, they weren't going to do him any good anyway.

There came a knock at his door and Nico moved his arm away from his face as he called for them to enter.

"Come in."

Sure enough in walked Will Solace, Nico felt those skeletal butterflies in the pit of his stomach again but he tried to cover it up by groaning.

"What do you want Solace?" he couldn't even bring himself to sound all that annoyed but he did fight back a smile when Will answered.

"I just wanted to check on you, haven't seen you since breakfast."

 _So he came looking for me._ Nico thought as he pushed himself up on his bed.

"Well here I am. So did you want something?" Nico really enjoyed spending time with Will so he hoped that maybe that's what Will wanted to do.

"Well with this time of year people tend to start getting sick a lot so I thought maybe before that happens maybe you and I could spend some time together without you needing to help me in the infirmary, of course you're more than welcome to anytime, it's nice having you around so much." Will smiled and the skeletal butterflies in the pit of Nico's stomach decided to take up tap-dancing.

"Sure, uh what did you have in mind?"

 _He likes having me around!_

Not very long ago had you told Nico that people would welcome his presence and even enjoy having him around he would have just scoffed at you and walked away, now the idea of Will liking spending time with him made him happier than he would have ever previously believed.

"Well, if you're up to it we can just go for a walk around the lake or something, most people are busy right now so it would be kind of quiet over there, or we can go by the strawberry fields, but if those options aren't any good you can pick something else."

It could have just been because of the way his thoughts had been playing out before but those options sounded suspiciously like dates to him, but he didn't want to get his hopes up too high so he stamped those thoughts down before he answered.

"That sounds okay, shall we get going?" he stood up and grabbed his leather jacket and walked over towards the door with Will beside him.

…

They walked around for a while just talking about anything that came to mind, more so for the sake of conversation than anything else but it was comfortable and Nico was really enjoying it. After a bit they decided to sit down along the edge of the lake far enough from the water to not get splashed by it and watched as it lapped against the shore creating a calming effect.

"So what's been on your mind lately?" Nico looked over at Will; he hadn't been expecting a question like that out of the blue and was confused.

"What?"

Will looked at him as if to say _Oh come on._

"I know something has been bothering you lately, I can feel it and I can see it in your eyes, I'm just not sure what it is." he turned more so that he was facing Nico more. "You know that if anything is bothering you that you can always talk to me about it, I'm always here for you." his reassuring smile caused the skeletal butterflies to do another tap dance number in Nico's stomach.

"I don't know if that'll work this time." Nico muttered as he pulled his knees closer to himself and Will looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"Why's that?"

Nico glanced over at Will while still facing the lake.

"Because it's you." he said quietly, he didn't really want Will to hear him but he was right, he was always willing to listen.

Now Will really looked confused and possibly a little hurt? Nico hated that he may have just hurt Will even if it was unintentional.

"What do you mean; did I do something to upset you? Did you want to do something else or am I bugging you? Am I bossing you around too much, I only do that because I care about you and I'm worried."

Nico's heart skipped a beat at that.

"If I'm dragging you around too much or you feel obligated to come to the infirmary so often then you don't have to, I just like having you around." Will was ranting now but what he was saying had Nico's pulse quickening with every word he said.

"I-"

Nico decided now was a good time to stop Will before he forgot how to breathe so he placed a hand over Will's, succeeding in shutting the blond up immediately.

"Will. Will relax, that's not it, I like spending time with you too, otherwise I wouldn't be here now." he gave Will his own reassuring smile and that seemed to calm the blond boy down. "You are the problem because I really like you and I didn't know what to do about it."

Will was completely speechless now so Nico went on feeling the need to get this weight off of him so that he didn't feel so tormented by his thoughts and uncertainty anymore, he'd already come this far so might as well continue.

"I really like you and I'm not sure how you feel but I know from experience that my feelings won't always be returned and that's okay but you deserve to know. I also know from experience that it is better not to keep it all locked up inside so I'm telling you now." he looked at Will with a wistful smile.

"I hope that's okay, you don't have to like me in return or anything, I just wanted you to know that I've liked you for a while now. I was just scared to know what your feelings were." he started to go quiet towards the end. "I was just scared, that's all." Nico looked down at the worn out jeans he was wearing, that is until he heard a quiet response from Will.

"I can fix that."

Out of all of the reactions Will could have had to this revelation, Nico never would have seen this one coming.

Will didn't say anything else, he just leaned in closer, when had they moved so close to one another? And he had pulled Nico closer with the hand that was still holding his and when Nico felt their lips meet he felt like his breath had just rushed out of his lungs all at once.

When Will pulled back he looked Nico right in the eye and smiled probably the biggest smile Nico had ever seen and he seemed to glow and his eyes seemed to shine as if they were miniature skies and held suns of their own and Nico wasn't sure if he'd ever be able to catch his breath again after seeing the pure joy that shone there.

"You really are dense Deathboy." Will said but his words held no bite, the happiness he showed was too much to put any weight into his teasing. "I've liked you for so long and I would do anything for you, you know that right? I was so scared when you said that you were going to leave forever and I thought I'd lose you again but then you said that you were staying and I thought we could at least be friends and Gods know I've been putting in a lot of effort in that but now that I know that I have a real chance,"

He placed both hands on Nico's cheeks as he leaned in and placed his forehead to Nico's never looking away. "Nico di Angelo, will you go out with me?"

Nico decided that this was a good time to figure out how to breathe again because there was no way he was dying before he had a chance to say yes. Nico took a deep breath before lifting up his own hands and placing them over Will's as he smiled in return, joy flooding through him like nothing he has ever known before.

"Yes, Will Solace I would love to go out with you."

Will brought their lips together once more before leaning back and letting out a laugh of pure joy that Nico loved and thought that he'd never get tired of hearing for as long as he lived. Maybe talking about his feelings wasn't so bad after all; he should have done this sooner and saved himself the trouble.

Will leaned in closer and wrapped his arm around Nico bringing him closer and laid his head on top of Nico's and closed his eyes blissfully.

"I love you Deathboy." he said quietly so that only Nico could hear it like he was telling him the biggest secret in the world that was only meant for them, and yet at the same time the most obvious thing in the universe that didn't even need to be said at all but he just wanted to.

Nico leaned into Will and smiled as those words rang through him.

"I love you too Sunshine." he said just as quietly with all the sincerity he could because it was true. He loved Will and now he knew that Will loved him too.

 **Finally! Okay so this is technically the last chapter but because I decided that my one-shot** ** _What did we miss?_** **relates back to this one I will be doing a bonus chapter after this at some point where Nico tells Hazel, Reyna, and Frank about him and Will. So look forward to that!**

 **Anyway, Please let me know what you think, sorry for not updating but I've got some family drama going on right now and focusing is hard.**


	6. Chapter 6 Bonus chapter

**Bonus chapter**

Nico and Will had signed up to go on a weekend trip to Camp Jupiter and New Rome. Chiron had given the go ahead and Nico couldn't wait to see Hazel and Reyna again after so many months apart, he even looked forward to seeing Frank.

He wondered if the big guy was still insanely shy around Hazel or if they'd worked past that by now. Nico was glad that his sister had someone who cared about her so much.

"You got everything?" Will asked as he did a double check of his own bag.

They were standing in the Apollo cabin while Will finished getting his things together, since he was the head of the cabin he needed to make sure that one of his siblings took over while they were away, but since there weren't too many around during the winter months he didn't need to worry much.

"Yeah I'm good." Nico said as he sat on Will's bunk and watched Austin clean his saxophone a couple of bunks down.

Technically since they were dating they weren't allowed to be left alone in a cabin together (the rules had since been updated.) but Nico knew that Austin wasn't there to spy on them or anything. It seemed that Will's siblings had long ago noticed the feelings between the two and were, well happy was a bit of an understatement, overjoyed when they finally told them that they were together.

It seems that Will had mentioned a time or two, possibly more, just how much he liked Nico.

Since he sat with the Apollo campers at their table at the dinning pavilion he was used to being around them, but the welcome they had given him since they learned that he and Will started going out was amazing.

The only downside was that anytime he was just hanging around in his cabin to kill time, one of the Apollo campers would walk in and invite him to whatever activity they were doing since he was 'A part of the family now.' Nico wondered how he managed to keep getting adopted by different people all of the time, _So much for being the scary Ghost King_ … he thought to himself but he didn't hate it.

"Will don't worry about it okay? Camp Jupiter and New Rome are wonderful places and you'll have a great time." Nico tried to calm his boyfriend; he loved how easily he could think of him like that.

 _My boyfriend._

"I know, I know, but I'm going there as your boyfriend now and I'm going to meet your sister and I don't want to mess anything up." Will said running and hand through his shaggy blond hair.

Nico laughed though not harshly, he found it funny that Will was worried he'd do something to upset Hazel.

"Relax Will, Hazel is strong and has power over the Mist but she's one of the sweetest half-bloods you could ever hope to meet."

Will let out a sigh as he began to relax and Nico couldn't help but to tease him a bit.

"Though if you did upset her, I'd be just as worried about her boyfriend Frank, he can turn himself into different animals like an angry bear or something."

Will actually looked pale which made his freckles stand out more than usual, Nico heard Austin laugh from where he was sitting on his bed.

"Will, I'm kidding, well I'm serious about the animal thing, but Frank is more likely to turn into a fly than hurt one, so I doubt he'd do anything to you, besides the one you really need to look out for is Reyna."

Will looked at him as if searching his eyes would let him see if Nico was still joking around or not.

"You know I really don't know if you're kidding this time or not…"

Nico just shrugged.

"Honestly it's hard to say."

Will glared at Nico.

"Not helping Deathboy."

Nico leaned back on the bed.

"Did you really think I would?" he laughed when Will threw his pillow at his head. "Okay, okay, but honestly you'll be fine. They'll love you."

Will didn't seem so sure about that though.

"And how do you know that?"

Nico stood up and walked over to Will and placed a light kiss on his cheek before stepping back, Austin pretended like he hadn't even noticed that Nico had moved.

"Because I love you and that's what matters."

Will's smile was enough to start an entire ballet of skeletal butterflies in Nico's stomach.

"I love you too Deathboy."

…

When they had finally arrived at Camp Jupiter Nico lead the way to where they would find Hazel because it made the most sense to go see her first.

Along the way Nico gave Will a tour of the camp and introduced him to the more friendly Lares that hung around and didn't mind interacting with Greeks.

He showed him the stables with the pegasi and unicorns next.

While Nico was showing Will Hannibal the war elephant Nico was knocked over by none other than Mrs. O'Leary their Hell hound friend.

"I see you stopped by to see your friend here." Nico said once he could stand up and wipe away the monster spittle that was running down his face.

Hazel had told him about how Percy's pet Hell hound had become friends with the war elephant here and it seemed she still popped by to play from time to time.

"Nico is that you!"

Nico and Will both turned to the voice as arms were flung around Nico bringing him into a tight hug.

"Yeah it's me, can you let me breathe please Hazel?" Nico said as she squeezed him tight.

When she let go he gave her a kiss on the cheek and returned her hug.

"We came for a visit, things have slowed down over on our end so I thought it would be nice to come see you guys for a few days."

Hazel smiled at her brother and then looked past him at Will with a raised eyebrow.

"We?"

Will had his hands dug into his pockets and didn't seem to know what to do so he just stood there and smiled.

"Hi, I'm Will Solace."

Hazel smiled back.

"Hi Will, I'm Nico's sister Hazel, daughter of Pluto."

Nico figured now was a good time to save his boyfriend so he took over.

"I was hoping to introduce him to you and Reyna and Frank." he said as he patted Mrs. O'Leary on the snout before she ran off to gods knew where again.

"Sure, they should be finished with any official duties for the day, come on I'll take you there." Hazel said as she turned back in the direction she had come from.

Nico gave Will a reassuring smile before pulling him along after him.

If Hazel noticed the two boys following her holding hands briefly she didn't say anything about it.

When they reached their destination Hazel led the way to the room where Reyna and Frank sat at identical desks and were busy filling out paperwork.

Reyna looked up when she heard someone come in and smiled when she saw Nico there.

"Nico!" she said as she stood up and made her way around the desk to envelop the younger demigod in a hug just as Hazel had done not long before.

"What are you doing here? Please tell me you didn't shadow travel across the country." she said with that sisterly air that she got when talking to him.

Nico rolled his eyes but couldn't bring himself to look annoyed, he knew Reyna understood the severity of long distance jumps through the shadows and the effects they had on him.

"No I didn't shadow travel here; I'm under strict Doctor's orders not to overuse my powers."

Reyna looked slightly confused by this.

"Doctor's orders?"

Nico gestured to Will standing beside him.

"You can ask him yourself, I'm taking good care of myself now."

Reyna looked at Will as if just realizing that he was in the room as well, she seemed slightly embarrassed but aside from the slight tint to her cheeks and ears she didn't show it.

Will stepped forward and offered his hand to the Roman Praetor with a friendly smile.

"Hello, it's nice to officially meet you, I'm Will Solace, son of Apollo." Will said as good naturedly as he could even though Nico knew that Will was probably still freaking out inside.

"You brought your doctor with you from New York?" Frank asked, he was still confused by what was going on it seemed.

Nico couldn't help but smile as he slipped his hand into Will's as he stood beside him.

"Well technically I brought my boyfriend with me. I just wanted to introduce him to you guys in person rather than over an Iris message or something."

Frank made an "O" face while Hazel and Reyna smiled and stepped closer to the two boys in front of them.

Will swallowed nervously and gripped Nico's hand a little tighter and Nico squeezed back to try and reassure him that everything was going to be just fine like he had said before.

"So you're dating our brother are you?" Hazel said looking at Will with her Golden eyes that were a little hard to read; meanwhile Reyna had adopted her regal look like she was deciding whether or not to have Will sewn into a sack and tossed into the river if he so much as blinked funny in Nico's direction.

Nico let out a long suffering sigh.

"You guys leave him alone; he doesn't know that you're only messing with him."

Reyna cocked a brow at him.

"What makes you think we're messing with him?"

Nico rolled his eyes at the girls and moved closer to Will.

"Because we all know that if you tried something I'd just shadow travel us out of here."

Will's eyes snapped towards Nico right then.

"No you won't, you know you're not supposed to use your powers unless it's really necessary!"

Nico smirked and looked at his sisters as if to say _See what I mean?_ He knew that Will's doctor mode would kick in if he mentioned using his powers and that was the best way to show the others that Will really cared about him, his plan seemed to work when he saw his sisters relax and drop the over protective act, though in all honesty Nico wasn't sure it was an act.

"It's great to meet you Will Solace." Reyna said appearing much more relaxed and friendly now, this seemed to help Will relax also which Nico was grateful for.

"It's almost dinner time, why don't the two of you sit with us tonight so that we can talk about what's happened in the past few months, I have a feeling we've missed quite a bit." Reyna said.

As the five of them made their way out Nico leaned into Will.

"I told you that you had nothing to worry about, didn't I?" he leaned up and placed a quick kiss to Will's cheek and Will smiled back down at him before placing a kiss on the top of Nico's head as he wrapped an arm around Nico.

"You sure did, guess it was about time that I met your family since you've already met mine."

Nico chuckled beside him as they walked.

"The scores not settled yet Sunshine, remember I've actually met _your_ father." Nico looked up at Will to see all of the color drain from his face, even his freckles seemed paler.

"Um, you're kidding right?" he laughed nervously and Nico chose not to answer right away. "You are kidding right Deathboy? Please say yes." Will said as they continued walking after the others.

Nico wrapped his own arm around Will's waist and smiled to himself.

"Who knows."

 **Well peoples that's it! I hope you liked it, and just so you know "** ** _What did we miss?"_** **is a follow up to this, if my brain will let me maybe I'll throw in something else further down the road but we'll see.**

 **This officially concludes** ** _I can fix that_** **so thank you for reading and I hope to get your thoughts on this, Please let me know what you think!**


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